If you’ve ever sat in seat 32E on a cross-country flight, staring at a $12 snack box, you’ve probably wondered where all that money goes. It’s a fair question. Running an airline is basically a high-stakes gambling operation where the house occasionally catches fire. At the center of it all for United is Scott Kirby.
The numbers are honestly jarring. In 2024, Kirby’s total compensation package hit roughly $33.9 million. That is not a typo. For context, that’s about an 82% jump from what he made the year before.
But here is the thing: he isn’t actually walking home with a briefcase containing 34 million dollar bills every December. When people talk about the ceo of united airlines salary, they usually conflate "salary" with "total compensation." They are very different animals.
The $1 million base salary illusion
Most people think of a salary as the money that hits your bank account every two weeks. If we use that definition, Scott Kirby is almost "normal" by corporate standards. His base salary is actually around $1.18 million.
Sure, that’s a lot of money. It’s more than most of us will see in a decade. But in the world of S&P 500 executives, it’s practically a rounding error. It represents less than 4% of his total take-home potential.
The real money lives in the fine print.
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Kirby’s package is heavily weighted toward stock awards and performance-based incentives. This isn't just United being generous; it's a structural choice. Boards of directors love this because it means if the airline's stock tanks or if they stop hitting growth targets, the CEO's "salary" effectively evaporates.
Breaking down the $33.9 million
To understand how he got to that massive number, you have to look at the ingredients. It’s kind of like a recipe for a very, very expensive cake.
- Base Salary: $1,175,000 (The "stable" part).
- Stock Awards: $24,405,267 (The lion's share).
- Non-Equity Incentives: $5,141,223 (Cash bonuses for hitting specific goals).
- Other Compensation: Roughly $203,500 (Think life insurance, security, and personal travel).
Why the massive jump in pay?
You might be asking why his pay nearly doubled in a single year. It feels aggressive, right?
There are two main reasons. First, the CARES Act restrictions finally expired. During the pandemic, the US government bailed out the airlines, but that money came with strings. One of those strings was a hard cap on executive pay. Once those rules sunsetted in 2023, airline boards went back to "market rates."
The second reason is "United Next." This is Kirby's massive plan to overhaul the fleet, add thousands of seats, and basically turn United into a premium global powerhouse. The board is essentially betting the house on Kirby’s vision. They used a large "retention award"—worth about $10 million of that total—to make sure he doesn't get lured away by a tech giant or a private equity firm.
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Honestly, it’s a polarizing move. When the airline is facing labor negotiations or flight delays, seeing a $34 million figure at the top of the food chain makes people angry.
Comparing Kirby to the rest of the cockpit
How does he stack up against the competition? If you look at the "Big Four" in the US, Kirby is currently the highest-paid.
- Ed Bastian (Delta): Usually hovers around $27 million, though he has topped Kirby in previous years.
- Robert Isom (American Airlines): Clocked in around $15.6 million recently, though his 2023 was much higher due to one-time awards.
- Bob Jordan (Southwest): Stays on the lower end, around $10.6 million.
The ceo of united airlines salary ratio is also a point of contention. Currently, Kirby makes about 380 times more than the median United employee. The median worker at United earns roughly $89,197.
The risk factor nobody talks about
There’s a common misconception that this money is guaranteed. It’s not.
Most of that $24 million in stock hasn't even "vested" yet. This means Kirby has to stay at the company and the company has to perform for several years before he can actually sell those shares. If United has a catastrophic year or if the industry faces another 2020-style shutdown, a huge chunk of that wealth stays on paper.
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He currently owns over 650,000 shares of UAL stock. As of early 2026, his net worth is estimated at at least $84 million. While that sounds like "set for life" money (and it is), it’s almost entirely tied to the success of the airline. If United fails, he loses a fortune.
What this means for the average traveler
Does his high salary mean your ticket costs more? Technically, no. Executive compensation is such a tiny fraction of an airline’s multi-billion dollar operating budget that cutting Kirby’s pay to zero wouldn't even drop your ticket price by a nickel.
However, it does signal the company's direction. The board is rewarding Kirby for his "aggressive growth" strategy. They want bigger planes, more international routes, and higher profit margins. For you, that might mean more flight options, but it also means United is under intense pressure to squeeze every dollar out of every seat to justify that $34 million valuation.
How to track executive pay yourself
If you want to keep an eye on these numbers, you don't need a secret password. Publicly traded companies like United are required to file a Schedule 14A (Proxy Statement) with the SEC every year.
Usually released in April, this document is a goldmine. It contains a "Summary Compensation Table" that breaks down exactly what the top five executives made. It’s surprisingly readable once you get past the legal jargon.
Actionable insights for the curious
- Watch the Proxy Filings: Look for United’s annual proxy statement in the spring to see if Kirby's 2025/2026 numbers stayed at this level or dropped.
- Monitor the Stock Price: Since most of his pay is in UAL stock, his "real" salary fluctuates daily. If the stock goes up 10%, he effectively gets a massive raise without the board doing anything.
- Compare to Labor Wins: When you hear about pilots or flight attendants getting a new contract, compare their total percentage raises to the CEO's. It gives you a much better picture of where the company's priorities lie.
Ultimately, Scott Kirby’s pay is a reflection of the modern corporate world: high risk, astronomical rewards, and a massive gap between the front office and the front line. Whether he’s "worth it" depends entirely on whether you’re a shareholder looking at the bottom line or a passenger looking at your credit card statement.